Quality improvement strategies

QualityTools

This 66-page toolkit describes the experiences of 11 Medicaid managed care organizations in developing, pilot testing, and refining a Best Clinical and Administrative Practices (BCAP) initiative to improve early childhood screening and anticipatory guidance, with an emphasis on preventive pediatric care.

This report assesses the evidence that the use of genomic tests for ovarian cancer screening, diagnosis, and treatment leads to improved outcomes. The authors conducted a literature review and constructed a computer simulation model to test the impact of different assumptions about ovarian cancer natural history on the relative effectiveness of different strategies.

This toolkit was created to assist States and health care facilities facing legislative mandates to publicly report health care-associated infections by providing guidance on components necessary for a meaningful reporting system. It details recommended steps, including the identification or creation of a responsible agency at the State level, personnel for data collection and quality improvement, strategies to prevent unintended consequences of public reporting, and recommended outcome...

These tools provide information about science-based interventions that use motivational incentives (low- or no-cost reinforcements such as vouchers, prizes, and privileges) to help reduce drug use and enhance client retention in treatment programs.

The Recovery Month Toolkit guides users, such as community leaders and health care providers, through the entire process of planning, launching, and publicizing National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month activities and events.

The three sections of this planning toolkit–media outreach, targeted outreach, and resources–will help the user to:

FluWorkLoss 1.0 is a spreadsheet software tool that estimates the potential number of days lost from work due to an influenza pandemic. Users can change almost any input value, such as the number of workdays assumed lost when a worker becomes ill or the number of workdays lost due to a worker staying home to care for a family member. Users can also change the length and virulence of the pandemic so that a range of possible impacts can be estimated. FluWorkLoss provides a range of estimates...

This toolkit can help hospitals implement a standardized color-coded wristband system, using Arizona's model. In 2006, Arizona hospitals began a Statewide initiative to use color-coded wristbands to help hospital workers identify at-risk patients, including those who have do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders, allergies, or who are at risk for falls. Since many health care workers practice at more than one hospital, standardized wristband colors help them avoid confusion and possible medical error...